FERNS. 1 9 



wisdom of its Creator, and raises the heart of the ear- 

 nest-minded observer in adoring gratitude to Him. 



A Cheshire friend sent us the Marsh-Shield Fern (L. 

 thelypteris, Plate II, Jig. 5), from some of the swamps 

 in her neighbourhood. It is a smaller Fern than many 

 of its family, and of a tender and succulent habit. Some 

 of its fronds are barren, and some fruitful, and the latter 

 grow taller and are more rigid in habit, exhibiting the 

 proud consciousness of superiority, which we had already 

 noticed in the fruitful fronds of the Oak Polypody and 

 Parsley-Fern. The spore-masses are more distant from 

 one another than in the other species. The cover hills 

 off very early. The form of the frond is what we call 

 linear-lanceolate — i.e., narrow in comparison to its length. 

 The pinnae do not stand so thickly on the rachis as in the 

 other Shield-Ferns, and there are no scales. It is difficult 

 to keep it alive in a fernery, where all its brethren are 

 easily naturalized ; it needs a moist shady nook, but its 

 succulent habit makes it a tempting prey to snails, which 

 seldom neglect to attack its fronds when in search of a 

 meal. 



A neighbour contributed a Fern from Ingleborough — 



the Rigid Shield-Fern (L. rigida), another of the order 

 with a very decided predilection for limestone districts. 

 Its form is generally upright and sturdy. The stem is 

 thick and scaly, and the general character resembles the 

 spreading Shield-Fern, but it does not attain nearly so 

 lofty a growth. 



It was not till a later period that I made the acquain- 

 tance of the Recurved Shield-Fern (L. fenisecii). It 

 grew in a lane near Benenden, in Kent, and attained the 



